WA’s peak business group has a plan to make Perth the country’s most livable city within five years.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry blueprint would have shopping hours fully deregulated, make it easier for small bars to open and release more state-owned land to the private sector.

Perth is now ranked ninth in the world on The Economist Intelligence Unit’s livability index. Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney are ranked first, sixth and seventh respectively.

Perth is now ranked ninth in the world on The Economist Intelligence Unit’s livability indexSource:Supplied

This week the CCI will release a paper called State of the Future: A Vision for WA, which lays out the reforms it claims are needed to make Perth the best location to live and do business.

CCI chief executive Deidre Willmott told The Sunday Times: “This is not just a document for government. If we are going to achieve this vision it will be a shared responsibility between government, business and community.”

The paper recommends:

●FULL deregulation of shopping hours, allowing stores to open whenever and for how long they want.

●DEREGULATION of the taxi industry.

●CHANGES to liquor licensing that would “shift the burden of proof away from the applicant and on to the community that would be potentially affected”.

●A REVIEW of the “land development chain” to encourage more private-sector involvement.

Ms Willmott, who is a former chief of staff to Premier Colin Barnett, said trading hours had to change if the city was to compete with the eastern states.

She said also: “We want to see innovative restaurants, eateries (and) small bars that can just spring up and are fun and attract different crowds.”

She said greater private- sector involvement in the release of land would enhance competition to drive down prices.

Or would deregulated shopping hours be a better option to make Perth more liveable? Photo: Daniel WilkinsSource:News Limited

Mr Barnett said that “many West Australians would say we are already Australia’s No. 1 city”.

“Perth is undergoing a major transformation initiated by the State Government,” he said. “There has been a noticeable change in the vibrancy of our city and (current) projects will take that to a higher level.”

But he said there were no immediate plans to fully deregulating shopping hours.

WHAT WOULD MAKE PERTH NO. 1?

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